Egg treating machine



p 1947- w. cs. HQWARD EGG TREATING MACHINE 4 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTORM WLL/J GJZOW/Ikfl,

- Filed June 28, 1944 JBY Sept. 30, 1947.

w. HOWARD EGG TREATING MACHINE- Filed June 28, 1944 4 Shets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. z Mai 0444920,

Ji -T414 ML,

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Sept. 30, 1947.'

W. G. HOWARD EGG TREATING MACHINE Fild June 28, 1944 4 Sheets-Sheet s INVENTOR. w v ng?? iffy: G'fiH fl/QD, BY

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Sept. 30, 1947. -w G, HOWA D 2,428,115

EGG TREATING MACHINE Filed Jun e 2a, 1944 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 back flow will be prevented, as clearly indicated by Fig. 7.. Said finger is, of course, suitably biased toward the illustrated position.

The treating oil is delivered from a suitable source of supply through a pipe I 30 and pump |3| and pipe I32 to tank 90 from whence it overflows,

at a constant level, over apron I33 to a drain thereby arresting forward movement of trays 59 on runway B with the forward end of the tray T overlying the paths of upward movement of fingers I02. Movement of stop finger I04 in the forward direction is limited by contact of part I04 of finger I04 with the adjacent wall of tank 90.

Upon return upward movement of carrier 9| its stop fingers I02 come up beneath the forward end of the tray T which has been arrested by finger I04 thus permitting that tray-with the accompanying filler and mat-to proceed onto the carrier 9| until it is arrested by shoulder I (Fig. 5) of a stop finger I05 (Figs. 8, 9, and 12) pivoted at I01 on tank 90 and normally urged to the position shown by the dotted lines in Fig. 8 by spring I08. Finger I04 is notched. to avoid striking the lower ends of eggs in the tray.

The advancement of each tray onto carrier 9| is completed by descent of the rear edge of the tray over theforwardly curved surface of stop finger I04.

Finger I06, on the forward side of shoulder I00, carries a roller I09. Finger I06 also carries a finger I I 0, adjustable by means of the screw-andslot fastening III, to be engaged by a finger II2 on carrier 9| to raise finger I06 against the bias of spring I08 at the extreme of upward movement of carrier 9|. Adjustment of finger I I0 insures proper coaction with finger |I2 to insure proper lifting of tray T by roller I09 of finger I06 to free latch II5 for proper coaction with plate I20. When carrier 9| descends into tank 90, the tray T therein engages a cam ||3 which (like cam 9| in my Patent 1,960,339) serves to shove the tray T forwardly on carrier 9| for a purpose which will be made to appear. (See Fig. 5.)

In order to prevent descent of carrier 9| in the absence of a properly positioned tray T, carrier 9| is provided with a latch I I5 pivoted at IIS on carrier 9| and provided with a tail III projected to a position where it is overridden by trays T. Latch H5 is provided with a T-shaped head IIB, the projecting portion of which may overhang the upper edge N9 of a catch plate I20 attached to tank 90 by the adjustable fastening I 2|, and said latch is gravity biased to the solid-line position of Fig. 10. The shank of the T-head H0 is notched at I22 and the upper edge of plate I20 is notched at I23 so as to receive and coact with the notched shank of the latch, as shown in Fig. 10.

I have found that this peculiar construction of the T-head latch and notched catch plate insures a proper operation of the latch to hold carrier 9| in its upper position until released, in a manner to be described.

As a tray T approaches stop finger I05 it overrides tail III of latch. 5 so as to retract the latch from operative position.

Heretofore, in operation of machines of this type, trouble has been experienced by accidental backward movement of trays of treated eggs on runway D and in order to avoid such trouble, I have provided the pivoted back-stop finger I25 (Figs. 5 and 7) pivoted at the delivery side of tank 90, at I26, in such manner that the trays arriving from carrier 9| may flow freely thereover but trough I34 (Fig. 1, dotted lines) which underlies runway D and delivers through pipe I35 (Figs. l and 5) to storage tank I36. A drain tank I31 underlies tank to permit exhaustion and clearing of tank 90.

Pipe I30 is valved at I38 and I39 and between these two valves are pipes I40 and MI leading, respectively, to tanks I36 and I31 and each valved at I40 and HI, respectively. Pump I3I is constantly driven by a suitable driving train I42 from the delivery side of the speed change drive S.

Carrier 9| is provided at each side with tracks or rollers to receive, support, and guide, trays arriving thereon and the tail II! of latch H5 is upwardly and forwardly cammed at. I (Fig, 11) so that one forward corner of each tray will suecessively lie thereon. The weight of the tray imposed on latch II5, so long as the weight of carrier 9| is imposed on the latch, is not sufiicient to withdraw the latch from catch plate I20 but, if a loaded tray is overriding the latch at a time when the major-arc portion of cam I00 is supporting carrier 9 I, the imposed weight of the tray is suflicient to withdraw the latch and permit descent of carrier 9|. Mounted on tank 90, above and paralleling the tray supporting guides of carrier 9|, are ledges I50, I50 in position to b overridden by the fillers and imposed mats so that fillers and mats will be held in position during descent of carrier 0| with an egg loaded tray. Each ledge I50 is conveniently hinged to the tank so that it may be swung aside to facilitate withdrawal of carrier 9|.

The oil in tank 90 is maintained at a constant desired temperature by a heating coil H thermostatically controlled.

The means E, at the delivery end of runway D, for reverting the groups W so that the eggs will be replaced inthe fillers and the trays withdrawn, may be of the character shown in my Patent 1,988,795 of January 22, 1935.

Stop finger I04 insures a proper positioning of an oncoming tray T so that the forward end of each tray will be engaged and lifted by fingers I02 on carrier 9|, so as to clear finger I04, as carrier 9| reaches its highest point. Being independent of carrier 9|, finger I04 is always in position to obstruct tray flow at a definite point and may be placed medially relative to the width of the trays thereby avoiding possible canting of the trays in runway B.

During normal operation, the carrier 9| is held in its upper position during approximately onefourth of each rotation of cam I00 so as to give ample time for discharge of a tray of treated eggs and arrival of a fresh tray. In case of non-arrival of a new tray, latch ||5 will engage plate I20 and prevent descent of the carrier, so that it may receive a fresh tray while cam I00 proceeds. When the cam again engages lever 97 the carrier 9| will be raised enough to withdraw the weight of the carrier from latch I I5 so that it may be retracted from latching position by the properly positioned tray T.

If, now, a new tray T arrives upon the carrier, it will ride up onto the cammed surface III of tail III of latch II5 to shift said latch to the dotted-line position of Fig. 10, whereby the carrier 9I will be permitted to descend as the majorarc portion of the cam I leaves the roller 99. As the carrier 9| descends, the cam H3 engages the tray to shift the same toward the right, as viewed in Fig. 5, for instance, to a position in which the forward edge of the tray overlies the roller I09, as indicated by the dotted line in Fig. 5. After submersion of the carrier for a time determined by the shape and speed of the cam I08, said carrier begins to rise again. The latch H5 is still held in inactive position by the weight of the tray T, and the finger I03 is in the dotted-line position of Fig. 8. As the carrier nears the top of its path, the finger II2 engages the finger H9 to swing the finger I06 in a clockwise direction. Such movement brings the portion I06 of the finger I08 up under the forward end of the tray T to lift such end upon the roller I09, whereby said tray is freed to move off the carrier and past the stop finger I25 onto the runway D.

Closing valves I40 and MI, opening valve I38, properly positioning valve I39, and operating pum I3I, permits pump delivery of feeding oil from a suitable source to the treating tank 30.

In order to clean tank 30 it may be drained into tank I31 whereupon, by closing valve I38 and opening valve MI, the pump may act to return the oil from I31 to tank 99.

Closing of valves MI and I38 and O ening valve I49 permits pump delivery to tank 90 from tank I36.

By opening Valve I39, more or less, oil delivery by the pump either from a supply source or from tanks I36 or I31 permits ingress of a regulated quantity of air which thus decreases the oil delivery by the pump so that, by this simple means, the rate of delivery of oil to the tank 90 will not greatly exceed the amount necessary to coat the eggs, no matter what may be the rate of delivery of the eggs to the treating tank.

To facilitate drainage of surplus oil from the carrying trays, I mount between guideway D and drain pan I34, a brush, pivoted on horizontal axis Y and counterweighted at Z, the bristles of said brush being of a length somewhat greater than necessary to reach the plane of th trays passing along runway D, thereby assuring contact of the brush with the trays, and consequent rapid drainage of oil from the trays, even though the brush bristles may have become considerably worn.

I claim as my invention.

1. In an egg treating machine having an immersion bath, element-supporting runways leading, respectively, to and from the bath, a vertically movable carrier alternately submergible in the bath and registrable with said runways and carrying a stop member adjacent the delivery end of the first runway, arresting means, independent of and unaffected by said carrier, in position to arrest an oncoming element on such first runway at a position short of bath registry with its leading edge above the stop member on the carrier when depressed, whereby, upon elevation of the carrier, such oncoming element will be lifted so as to clear said arresting means to move onto the carrier in registry with the bath.

2. Apparatus of the character specified in claim 1 wherein the arresting means is a pivoted counterweighted finger having a downwardly and forwardly inclined face facing the bath and carrier.

3. In an egg treating machine having an immersion bath, a vertically reciprocable egg-group carrier in registry with the bath, a lever for raising and lowering said carrier, and one-way actuating means for lifting said lever, the provision of an adjustable wedge interposed between said lever and carrier whereby maximum elevation of the carrier by the lever may be accurately determined.

4. In an egg treating machine having an immersion bath and adapted to handle a series of egg-carrying trays, a vertically reciprocable tray carrier registered with the bath, a latch movably mounted on the carrier and movable to inactive position by an imposed tray when the latch is freed of the weight of the carrier, and a catch-plate on the bath in position to receive the latch when the carrier is in its upper position and in the absence of an imposed tray, said catch- 3 plate having a notch in its upper edge, and said latch having a T-head, the shank of which is notched and of less width than the notch in the catch-plate whereby, in coacting with the catchplate, the shank of the latch will overlie the bottom of the notch in the catch-plate and the lat eral arms of the T-head will overlie portions of the upper edge of the catch-plate flanking the notch in said plate.

5. In an egg treating machine having an immersion bath and adapted to handle a series of egg-carrying elements, runways leading, respectively, to and from the bath, and a vertically reciprocable carrier alternately movable into the bath and into register with said runways, the provision of a stop means adjacent the receiving end of the second runway preventing revers movement of such elements from the second runway to positions overhanging the path of travel of the carrier.

6. Apparatus of the character specified in claim 5 wherein said stop means comprises a stop finger which is pivotally mounted and limited to permit flow of such elements from the bath to second runway.

'7. In an egg treating machine havin a bath, a vertically reciprocable carrier to receive successive elements moving through the machine, a latch carried by the carrier and movable to and from active position due to absence or presence of an element on the carrier, and a lifting finger movably mounted on the bath and movable by coaction with the carrier to lift the carrier borne element to release the latch, the provision of an adjustable element on said lifting finger and engageable by the carrier at the end of its upward movement, whereby lifting of the carrier-borne element to relieve the carrier latch may be easily and accurately predetermined.

WILLIS Gr. HOWARD.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,520,424 McCullough Dec. 23, 1924 1,960,339 Howard May 29, 1934 1,962,722 Krueger June 12, 1934 1,489,944 Kasser Apr. 8, 1924 1,553,185 Roussel Sept. 8, 1925 1,814,680 Ford July 14, 1931 1,883,669 Ford Oct, 18, 1932 

